BREAKING:MUSEVENI APPOINTS DR FLAVIAN ZEIJA NEW CHIEF JUSTICE

Hon Justice Flavian Zeija speaking during the handover ceremony at the judiciary.

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President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has appointed Dr Flavian Zeija as the New Chief Justice. This is according to the President’s Special Press Assistant and Mobilization, Faruk Kirunda.

The Parliament of Uganda had earlier revealed on its X handle that it was vetting Dr Flavian Zeija , who has been nominated as the new Chief Justice.

Meanwhile, the state House on Thursday in a statement confirmed that “In exercise of the power of the President by article 142(1) of the 1995 constitution and acting on the advice of the Judicial Services Commission, H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has appointed Hon. Justice Flavian Zeija as the Chief Justice of the Republic of Uganda” It explained that the appointment follows the submission of Hon Justice Flavian Zeija’s name to the Parliament of Uganda for approval, which Parliament Dully granted in accordance with the constitution.

It is reported that the Judicial Service Commission had forwarded Justice Izama Madrama, Mike Chibita, and Hon Justice Flavian Zeija as the successful candidates for the job and recommended that the President select among the three.

The nomination comes barely four days after the former Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo Chigamoy retired from the Judiciary on Monday after clocking the mandatory 70 years of age.

Owiny-Dollo handed over the office to Zeija, noting that the law requires the outgoing Chief Justice to handover to his Deputy, if a new substantial Chief Justice hasn’t yet been appointed by the President.

In this case, Dr Zeija has been the Acting Chief Justice since Monday afternoon when Owiny-Dollo handed over office.

Sources also said that another handover happened yesterday without the media at the Judiciary headquarters after the one for Monday was reportedly done hurriedly so as to avoid public criticism on dthe elayed handover.

The appointment of Dr Zeija comes as a surprise to many in the Judiciary as well as the Judicial Service Commission.

The Permanent Secretary to the Judiciary Dr Rose Nassali, has told Our Reporter that she wasn’t aware of the Appointment by yesterday, as she was not in office.

She said she was reportedly away attending the burial arrangements for the former Minister for Education, Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire.  The sources inthe  Judiciary also indicated that they learnt about the appointment of Dr Zeija via the Parliament Website.

Judicial Service Commission is the body in charge of appointing and regulating the conduct of the judicial officers.

They have the mandate to carry out the job advertising, shortlistings of the successful candidates for that job and then forward three Names to the President for him to choose one for appointment.

In this case, reliable sources have told Our Reporter that Supreme Court Justices Mike Chibita and Christopher Izama Madrama were the successful Candidates whose names were sent to the President before he appointed Dr Zeija. Many Supreme Court and Court of Appeal Justices are said to have applied for the same job before Zeija caught the President’s eye.

Dr Zeija has risen to the position of the Chief Justice swiftly, having spent less than a year as the Deputy Chief Justice.

He had been appointed as the Deputy Chief Justice on February 7th, 2025, a position he has had since then, when he replaced the Deputy Chief Justice Emeritus Richard Buteera.

Before this, he was the Principal Judge and was succeeded by Lady Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga in Acting Capacity for nearly a year, until last month when Museveni appointed former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Lady Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga as the substantive Principal Judge.

Who is Dr Flavian Zeija?Justice Dr. Flavian Zeija is a lawyer, academic, and the Principal Judge, which is the third-highest-ranking position in the Judiciary of Uganda, which he has been holding since 25 December 2019.

He replaced Dr Yorokamu Bamwine, who was relieved of his duties after clocking the mandatory age for retirement.

Dr Flavian Zeija was born in Western Uganda on February 18th, 1969. He attended local elementary and secondary schools. In 1993, he was admitted to Makerere University, where he graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Laws degree. The following year, he obtained a postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre in Kampala.

In 1999, he returned to Makerere University and was admitted to the Master’s program in Law. He graduated with a Master of Laws degree in 2002. His degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Law was awarded by the University of Dar es Salaam in 2013. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree, obtained from the Uganda Martyrs University in 2018. In addition, he has been a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of the United Kingdom since 2012. He has a wide experience as a practising attorney.

He started in 1998 as a legal assistant with Kwesigabo, Bamwine, Walubiri & Company Advocates, a Kampala-based law firm. In the past, he worked at Tropical Africa Bank as manager of legal and recovery, between 2002 and 2003. He also worked at FINCA Uganda Limited as legal counsel. Before his appointment to the High Court of Uganda in 2016,  he served as the managing partner at Zeija, Mukasa & Company Advocates, another Kampala-based law firm.

In addition to practising law, Flavian Zeija taught law at  Uganda Christian University,  Makerere University and  Makerere University Business School (MUBS). At MUBS he served as the founding head of the department of Business Law.

He was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Uganda in 2016. He was then assigned as the Resident Judge of Mbarara High Court Circuit, the largest circuit in the country. While serving in that capacity, in December 2019, he was appointed to his current assignment as the Principal Judge for which he now leaves to start other duties as the Deputy Chief Justice.

Dr Zeija now goes to the helm of the Judiciary that has been battling case backlog as the biggest challenge coupled with understaffing but however growing steadily in terms of technology and faster on its transformation journey to improve access to Justice.